Aftermath
by Vausq
Summary: Stories always have a happy ending, right? Pff, not here. This is the story of how Judy and Nick never solved their first case. Ten months have passed, and things have only gotten worse. The amount of savage animals is growing every day and there's no hope in sight. Until Judy gets shot.
1. Chapter 1

The worst part about their collars were the itches. Sure, the PMD (Predator Managing Department) watching their every move was rather unsettling. But having their heart rate monitored and their brain activity registered was something all predators had gotten used to.

Ever since the savage outbreaks had started about a year ago, the city had slowly begun to spiral into chaos. He and Judy never found the reason behind the attacks, but the police were still searching. Some speculated that it was an animal who had a grudge against predators and was drugging them to turn them vicious. Others believed that it was a predatory instinct that had finally woken up after centuries of being asleep that started to drive animals to kill.

Regardless of the reason, no one felt safe anymore. The prey were worried they could be killed, and the predators were worried they would kill. So as a solution, the government suggested MBC's or Mandatory Behavioral Collars on all predatory civilians. These collars would monitor the predator population and incapacitate any animal that was detected to be savage. Within the next month or so, every predator had been equipped with an MBC.

Fortunately, the MBC's did their job and stopped a lot of dangers. The animals were paralyzed when they went savage, the police picked them up, and they spent the rest of their lives in a laboratory where they were monitored in an attempt to find a cure. Unfortunately, the devices raised bigger problems, like the itching.

"I almost have it." Nick said as he clawed viciously at the back of his neck, trying to get in behind the collar. "I swear I'm so close."

He and Judy were on break from a patrol route in the rainforest district. They sat on a bench overlooking a city block while they talked and ate their lunch. The bench was pushed up against a massive tree, so they had shelter from the light rain that fell down over the city.

Judy, who was sitting beside him, began giggling at her partner's struggle. She hated it when she laughed at Nick because of his collar, but it was just so funny.

"You want some help with that?" She asked with a grin.

"Nope, I don't need help." Nick quickly denied. But after struggling with the gadget for far too long, he finally admitted defeat. Nick sighed and looked at Judy with disappointment in his eyes.

"I need your help." He said shyly. "Please."

"Ok. If you insist." Judy replied with a smile as she hopped up on Nick's shoulders and used her small paws to get underneath the metal. Once she started scratching at Nick's neck, she felt him shudder, and let out soft 'ooooh's and 'aaaah's.

"What would you do without me?" Judy asked as she fell off of Nick's shoulders and into his lap.

"Probably buy a decent back scratcher." He answered jokingly, picking his lunch back up.

Judy chuckled and took her own food. They sat in silence, eating their meals and enjoying each others company. Once Nick finished his sandwich, he looked down in his lap at Judy. She was munching on a bunch of berries, looking at the animals going about their day in the rain. Some had umbrellas, others risked it and ran to their destination. As she ate, she grabbed Nick's tail and brought it close to her chest to snuggle it. He loved it when she grabbed his tail.

But he wasn't enjoying the moment as much as he should have. He was still thinking about the piece of junk around his neck. His MBD. Sure, it helped save a few animals, but was it really that necessary? Collars were humiliating. It was a message that told everyone that predators couldn't control themselves.

And why didn't any prey have any? There was no proof that they could control themselves any better than predators, they had just never been on the edge of going savage. And if a prey suddenly did go crazy and attack, would MBDs be mandatory on all animals? Nick didn't want his tax money to go to such a stupid cause.

But that wasn't all. The worst part was the fact that the collars didn't come off. Only a select few animals had the necessary key card to remove collars, and none of them were predators. All predators had that clump of garbage strapped around their necks for the rest of their lives. Their skin couldn't breath, the weight caused constant pain and the blinking light always caught attention. And it never came off.

The city saw MBCs as devices that kept predators sane all the time, and that without them, all hell would break lose. They've forgotten the time before collars, when animals lived together happily. Now all predators were stereotyped as being crazy and uncontrollable.

But he couldn't change any of it. He had to keep his collar on, and there was nothing he could do. He pushed the thought aside after realizing how he was acting. He just ate amazing food with the love of his life in his lap. He needed to learn to enjoy what he had.

"Hey, you look down today. What's wrong?" Judy asked, looking up at Nick with wide eyes.

"Just thinking about how much easier life would be without this... thing." He said, tugging at his collar.

"Yeah," She agreed. "It must really suck"

Nick slowly brought his head down onto Judy's shoulder and whispered something into her ear. "You know you could make all that suck go away if you just, I don't know, took it off for me."

She gasped and looked up at Nick, her jaw almost dropped to the ground. "Nick, no! That's illegal." She squealed.

"Not for you, it's not." It was true. After being offered to represent the ZPD, Judy got access to removing MBCs. Now, she had the key to take off any collar she wanted. She never imagined she would ever need to use it, but it came as a perk in case she did.

"Still." She admitted. "It's not safe."

Nick paused for a bit, rethinking about what Judy had said. Not safe? Did she think he could be dangerous?

"What?" He asked in annoyance. "Not safe? What do you mean not safe?"

Judy caught herself, after realizing what she had said. "It's nothing, you'd be fine." She waved at Nick, trying to silence him.

"You don't think I can control myself, do you?" Nick asked with a low anger growing inside him. "If I didn't have the collar, would you be scared of me?"

"No. That's not what I meant, Nick." Judy defended herself as she slid off of Nick's lap and scooted further down the bench. Nick's tone was scaring her though.

"But you were implying it." Nick growled deeply. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I heard you say 'it wouldn't be safe.'" He told Judy as he scratched his chin, buiding Judy's words against her. "And if I'm not safe, I must be dangerous."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Judy repeated with a shaky voice.

"Do you know how much these suck?" He asked Judy as he raised his voice. "To have this hunk of crap permanently strapped to your neck!?"

"Nick stop." She said with tears building behind her eyes. "I'm sorry, just stop."

Judy slid further from Nick until she was on the edge of the bench. She leaned on the armrest and covered her face in her paws, trying to hide from Nick.

After realizing what he had done, Nick's anger fell away from him and he was instantly flooded with regret. How could he have gotten so furious at Judy? How could he let himself do that to her?

"Ju-Judy?" He quietly called out to his friend as he slowly started to pull himself towards her. The sadness was killing him.

"What?" She answered in between sobs, now obviously angry at Nick.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but his words got stuck in his throat. "I... I'm so, sor-" Before he could finish, he was cut off by the sound of his walkie-talkie. On the other end of the line, he heard the police station's dispatch officer, Benjamin Clawhauser.

"Alert to all officers. We have a code three-ninety-four in progress. Location 22 Cherrywood Drive, rainforest district."

At the sound of his friend's voice, Nick turned and reached for the walkie-talkie, but Judy was faster and snatch it from him. She jumped up and speed off to their police car.

Nick quickly stood up and ran after Judy. "Judy, I know I got mad at you. I'm sor-"

"We don't have time to apologize right now." She said in an attempt to hide the hurt Nick caused her. "We have work to do. Clawhauser said three-ninety-four, right? On Cherrywood drive?"

Nick was in awe. Judy didn't want to help fix their problems. Usually she fell into Nick's arms, they had a short talk about how much they loved each other, and then they got icecream. But now, she completely threw him off.

"Yeah, that's what he said." Nick finally answered with a quiet voice, still dumbfounded at Judy's lack of love.

"Ok." She said in between sniffles as the two officers got into their squad car and sped off towards the scene of the crime. "That means we have a savage animal on the loose."


	2. Chapter 2

Judy didn't take her foot of the gas. The engine revved and the sirens blared as she and Nick rushed across the downtown area of the rainforest district.

Maybe Nick was right. Was she too quick to assume? She always knew that the collars were annoying, but she didn't know the whole story of putting up with one. Was she over reacting? No, she thought. She wasn't in the wrong, Nick was.

The way he acted was indescribable. Rage grew in his eyes, his voice was terrifying. Seeing the animal she loved turn into such a psycho was heart wrenching. She couldn't stand it. But she had a job to do. She couldn't let her emotions get in the way of saving others, so she put those thoughts aside.

*SKREEECH*

The tires squealed as she rounded another corner without slowing down. Only a couple more blocks to go until they arrived at the scene of the crime.

Nick messed up, and he knew it. How could he have gotten so angry at Judy? In the end, she was right. No predator had ever been able to control themselves, and there was nothing to say that Nick could stop himself from going savage. He regretted ever being angry at her, she was just thinking realistically. And now, Judy was too caught up in her work to talk to him. Trying to now apologize was hopeless. He just needed to wait until their work was done.

He hated it when Judy prioritized her job over everything else. He loved that she was dedicated to saving others, and he would never want to take that from her. But if there was work to do, she put everything else on hold until it was done. That often drove him crazy.

"Here we are." Judy said as she slammed on the brakes and slid their patrol car to a halt in front of an old middle class house. The bricks were worn from the rain and there were vines hanging from the roof, it was your typical rainforest residence.

Nick noticed that even though Clawhauser had called for all units to respond here, they were the first ones there. He looked around to double check, but he and Judy were all alone.

While Nick was distracted by the absence of the other officers, Judy put the car in park and hopped out of the vehicle. She brought her tranquilizer out and raised it in front of her, ready to enter the building.

Once Nick noticed Judy heading to clear the building, he quickly jumped out of the car and chased after her, worried that she might run into danger alone.

"Slow down." He whispered loudly as he took Judy's arm to hold her back. "Shouldn't we wait for backup? It's a loose, savage animal. It could be dangerous."

"No." She answered with a stern voice. Her attitude caught Nick off guard. "If we wait, someone could get hurt. We need to move now."

Without waiting for Nick's approval, Judy slammed the door with her shoulder, making it fly open with ease. With their guns raised and their ears on edge, the two animals stayed low as they cleared the first floor of the house.

The home was dark and creepy. The shade of the surrounding jungle trees outside stopped a lot of light from getting in through the windows, causing it to cast an ominous aura in the house. It was dark, but not pitch black. After quickly circling the kitchen, living room and bathroom, they met where they had started. The two officers signaled each other to head up the stairs to the second floor. Once they got to the top, they very clearly heard growls from a closed room to their left.

They had stayed in complete silence until now, but once they approached the door, an animal heard them and became aware of their presence. In an act of defense, the predator let out a mighty roar. They could hear the beast pacing back and forth, it's claws scratching the wood floor under it. Although the animal was getting riled up, it never came after them.

"It's not attacking." Judy whispered to Nick. "It should have plowed the door down by now.

Nick raised his shoulders, obviously just as confused as Judy. "I guess it's safe then." He said as he grasped the doorknob and slowly opened the door.

What they saw next was something quite strange. In the corner of the room, sat a savage tiger. His eyes glowed a bright red in the darkness of the room. As he growled, he showed his gleaming, razor like fangs. His fur was ruffled and crazy, as if he had been in a fight. He was on the edge of attacking them. But he didn't.

"Nick." Judy said as she tugged at his uniform. "Could you get the lights?"

Nick had become used to his night vision and often forgot that Judy didn't have the same ability as him. "Sure." He answered as he flicked on the light switch and shun light upon their target.

With the extra clarity, they could see the animal better. Around his neck, was wrapped a collar. But not an MBC, that had been completely removed. Instead, there was a large metal clamp around his neck, keeping him chained to the ground. He had been locked there.

"What is going on?" Judy asked. They had never seen anything so strange, and that was saying a lot.

Without answering Judy, Nick raised his tranquilizer and fired it at the tiger. A few seconds after the dart impaled themselves into the tiger's skin, the animal fell into a deep sleep.

"Really Nick?" Judy asked in awe. She still couldn't believe him. "He was tied up. He couldn't hurt us."

"Its protocol Judy." Nick answered in his defense. "It's the law."

Now that the area was cleared, Nick and Judy put their guns away and swept the room for clues.

"Well now we know predators aren't turning because of some instinct thing. They're being targeted." Nick noted as he walked up to the passed out feline and tapped him with his foot. "This guy couldn't have tied himself up and and predicted that he would turn. I think he was attacked, chained up, then someone turned him savage."

Judy agreed, but something seemed off, like they were missing something. "Yeah, the idea fits. But why keep him here? Why not let him run loose and terrorise the city like all the other ones?"

"I don't know. Let's count ourselves lucky. An easy case can't be bad, right?"

"I guess." Judy answered as she walked up to the window, overlooking the neighbourhood. All seemed to be normal, until she spotted something out of the ordinary. Down and across the street, about a hundred yards away, sat an animal atop an apartment building. The animal, who was about her size, was holding a large metal object pointed in their direction. A rifle. It was a trap.

"Nick!" Judy screamed as she turned and ran towards her partner at full speed. "Nick! Get down!"

As she dove for Nick, time seemed to slow down. A strange violet orb came whizzing towards her through a window that had been left open. The very second she came in contact with Nick and shoved him out of the way, the projectile exploded all over the back of her head. Then, everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

The doctors said that considering the fact that she just got shot, Judy was doing pretty well. They figured she wouldn't take long wake up, but this was bad. What if she never woke up?

Under normal circumstances, Nick wouldn't worry about Judy. She was strong and would wake up soon enough. She would shake it off as if it was just a nap and go back to being Judy in no time. But this was different. They were faced with a problem that had never happened before, and they had no clue how to fix it. The idea of herbivores going savage has often been taken as a joke, so now that it's a real problem, they can't do much for Judy but wait and hope.

Seeing his love turn into such a thing was ripping him to pieces. The wild look in her eyes was something straight out of a horror movie. The way she fell down on all fours, arched her back and tilted her head as if she was the hunter was utterly terrifying. Her desire for blood and gore was indescribable. Seeing a tiger chained up was weird, but once Judy got hit by that gel, what Nick saw and felt couldn't truly be put into words.

At first, he was confused. A million questions flew around in his head. Was Judy dead? After all, she had just been shot in the head. But with what? By whom? From where? Why? Naturally, he rushed to her side to help her up, but she didn't move. He took a knee next to her and held his ear up to her chest to check for her pulse, but something unexpected happened. Nick was relieved to feel her slow, faint heart beat, but it quickly began to speed up. By the time he pulled his head up to look at his friend, the Judy he knew was gone.

She viciously jumped at him, landing on top of Nick and pinning him down. Nick instinctively reached up and grabbed her neck to keep her at a distance but the pressure was almost too much. He couldn't hold her forever. For what seemed like an eternity, he had to stare his best friend in the eye as she tried desperately to kill him.

"Judy!" He remembered screaming at the top of his lungs. "This isn't you! You can fight this!"

But Judy was gone. Judy was a bunny, and this creature in front of him was a predator. She continued to snap viciously at his face with her massive teeth, she waved her arms about in an attempt to scratch Nick, but he was just barely out of her reach.

Just as Nick started to give in and let go, Judy's body went limp. He dropped her beside him to see a tranquilizer dart impaled in her back. He quickly backed away, partially out of worry of still being in danger, but mostly out of terror. In front of him, at the other end of the room, stood the rest of his police unit. Judy, the sweetest, most honest animal in the whole world had tried to rip his throat out.

Once the other officers had cleared the building, the tiger was loaded into an armored van and sent off to a laboratory, as all savage predators were. But Judy had nowhere to go because no one knew how to take care of prey once they'd gone savage. So they sent her to a nearby hospital and restrained her to her bed. Usually, public hospitals weren't the best places to keep an injured officer, in case the attacker came back to finish the job. But the ZPD had placed guards out and about the building to make sure no one shady went in or out.

Now, Nick sat next to her. He petted her tied up paw, hoping she wouldn't wake up to be the creature he feared. His cue was the beat of the heart monitor. The slow, steady beeps of the machine brought him back to when he began to feel Judy's heart rate speed up. The stress of hearing that again, seeing Judy wake with that blood lust look on her face... No. He couldn't think about it.

The last hour of his life was the worst hour of his life, but his mind drifted off to before they even stepped foot into that house. He thought about their fight. The thought that Judy's last memory of him would be his anger, that's what was tearing him apart. It was the guilt of Judy dying with the belief that he didn't love her. He didn't even apologize.

The stress, the fear, the tears, it was to much for him. He needed a fix. Coffee always cleared his mind, maybe that could help, he thought. Nick stood up and lightly kissed Judy on her forehead before leaving her room to get a drink.

The coffee didn't help. Nick stood leaning against the wall of the hospital lobby, sipping the drink as he watched the news from a TV that was held in the corner of the room. Nothing significant came on, just small stories about city gossip and small businesses. Until the words 'breaking news' came flashing on the screen.

A moose sat at a large table with a stock image of a set of fangs behind her. "After responding to a loose, savage animal in the rainforest district, two officers got themselves into quite a sticky situation. We have Ben on the scene with more details."

Nick froze and slowly gulped down a bit of his coffee. "Please don't let it be us. Please don't let it be us." He prayed to himself, hoping he and Judy wouldn't appear on air. But a part of him knew it was them.

The TV switched to to a beaver, standing outside in front of the the same house he and Judy had responded to. Nick cursed under his breath upon seeing the location.

The sun had now set and it was raining, so the animals there were relying on the yellowish glow of the street lights to see. It made for an uncomfortably creepy view. Behind the beaver, were other news casters, police officers and investigators, also reporting to the attack. Beyond them, stood the house of Nick's nightmares. Just seeing the building sent shivers down his spine.

"About a half hour ago, the ZPD had received an anonymous tip that a savage predator had gone loose at this very address. Two police officers responded before the rest, and upon arriving and searching the house, found something quite strange. The house's owner, Tony Pattison had gone savage, as the anonymous tipper had said, but Pattison was chained to the floor of his room. We have few details of what happened next, but we do know that one of the officers, a prey specifically, proceeded to go savage for unknown reasons and attack her partner. Over the last year, old hunting instincts emerging in animals have been quite common. But the fact that this particular officer is a prey is what makes this case so unsettling. The victim of the attack is now in the district hospital in critical condition."

Upon hearing those last two words, Nick spat out his coffee in shock, making several animals turn his way to see what had happened. Critical condition? Where were they getting their information from? Nick always knew that news station did crazy things to get the public's attention, but this was new. Anger grew on Nick's face, making it obvious to the other animals in the room that he really knew what was going on. Then Nick noticed all the heads turned his way, watching his face cringe up in disgust and rage. Being furious wasn't good, but being so in public was worse, so Nick dumped the rest of his coffee in the trash and left for Judy's room.

As he entered Judy's room, he saw something heart wrenching. Judy was awake, thankfully, but she was in complete tears, watching the same news Nick had in the hospital lobby. Her restraints made it impossible for her to cover her face or to turn the TV off using the remote. She couldn't look away, she had to watch. Nick ran to her and swiftly undid her restraints. He jumped onto the bed and pulled her into a massive hug. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"They said I... They said I hurt you." She said in between breaths. "I... I thought I hurt you."

"No. No, no, no I'm fine. I'm right here." Nick answered reassuringly. "I'm right here."

Judy looked up at Nick with distress in her eyes. "It was so... so terrible." She muttered in between breaths. "I didn't want to, but I did. I couldn't control it. The feeling was like a hunger for something I hated. But I... but I needed it. You told me I could fight it, but I... I just couldn't, because it was me. It was like it was who I was supposed to be, but I knew it was wrong. It was so wrong. It's all my fault."

Nick pulled her in closer. "No. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault and you know it. You're nothing like that."

"Am I going to turn again?" She asked, looking up at Nick with fear in her eyes. "Could I go savage again?"

"No. No, I won't let them get you again. You're safe with me." He held her tighter. Oh, this was all such a mess. It wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help but feel guilty. He was going to protect Judy with his life. "I'll never leave your side." He promised.

They sat there in silence, holding each other close. Nick felt a sense of relief knowing that Judy was alive and well, but he still felt an undeniable guilt for not being able to help more.

After a few minutes, a doctor came to check up on Judy and saw that she was much better. The hospital said that they needed to run tests on her because of her... special case, so they took her away for abit. As a result of Judy "turning" she burned way more energy than what she was used to, being such a small prey and all, and thus was to weak to walk by herself. The doctors helped her get into a wheelchair in order to get her to the right room.

The tests took around an hour, but it felt like forever.. He sat in the waiting room, hoping that Judy would come out ok. Eventually, she did. She was still an a wheelchair, but otherwise ok.

A doctor, a deer to be specific, came down the corridor, pushing Judy along in front of him. "Are you Judy's friend?" The doctor asked with concern as he approached Nick, obviously bothered that the only animal to help her was a predator.

"Yes. I am." Nick responded forcefully, making it obvious that the deer was being incredibly rude.

Still skeptical of Nick's answer, the deer looked down at Judy and asked her himself. "Do you know this fox?" He asked Judy as if she was a child.

Judy, despite being annoyed by the doctor's ignorance, gave him a light nod of approval.

The doctor responded with a nod before slowly looking back up at Nick. "And your name would be..."

"Wilde." Nick answered. "Nicholas Wilde."

"Ok, Mister Wilde, are you able to stay with Judy over the next week or so?"

"Yeah, of course." Nick answered. "Is Judy ok?" He asked nervously. "Is she going to be stuck in that wheelchair forever?"

"Nah, Judy's going to be fine. Her muscles were just overworked during the incident, she should be back to normal within a few days. Just make sure she takes two of these a day for at least a week. They're special vitamins to help strengthen her muscles and bones." The doctor held a bottle of pills out to Nick. "They should get her back on her feet in no time."

Nick took the bottle and thanked the doctor before taking Judy's wheelchair in his own hands and strolling her out the door, towards his car. Some other officer had brought his and Judy's police car back to the station, so Nick called Finnick and got him to drop his convertible off at the hospital. After placing Judy in the passenger seat and folding the up wheelchair into the trunk, he fell down in front of the wheel and started up his car.

"Were going to my place by the way." Nick said as he drove out of the hospital parking lot and onto the main road.

"Wow. No. Your place is a dump." Judy complained. "Why can't we go to my place?"

"Because my place is a better hidden than yours." Nick replied. "I'm not going to have you near any trouble. You'll stay at my place until you begin to feel better."

"Fine. But you've got to clean your place up."

"Yeah. I will."

Nick felt pure happiness surround him. Judy being in a wheelchair was less than preferable, but it was really good considering the situation. But he still had an undeniable dread hanging over him.

"I'm sorry, Judy." Nick spat out from nowhere, catching Judy by surprise.

"None of this is your fault." Judy said. "There was nothing you could have done."

"I'm not talking about the attack." He replied with a weak voice. "I'm talking about... about the fight we had. It's been eating me alive. The thought that you could have died thinking... thinking that I didn't love you more than anything else in the world, it was killing me."

"No, Nick. I know you'll always love me. Animals just fight sometimes. It's normal." Judy comforted him as she leaned her head on Nick's shoulder.

"I know. But this fight was so stupid. This collar just sucks so much and I was to blind to see that we have them because predators can be dangerous."

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I was stupid and ignorant and I got angry at you because I thought I could handle myself. You were just being careful and I was too caught up in my own feelings to see that. I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad at you anymore, Nick." Judy said softly. "I forgive you."

Nick took his eyes off the road and gave Judy a reassuring smile. Then he realized he was caught in an ooey gooey love scene.

"Well, you heard the doctor." Nick exclaimed with an upbeat voice in order to break the silence. He pulled out the bottle of pills from his pocket and handed them to Judy along with a bottle of water that he had left in his car. "Two a day. Take them now, before we forget."


	4. Chapter 4

Judy woke to the warm smell of blueberry pancakes. She pulled herself up and rubbed her eyes before looking around. She was in Nick's bed. The bright sun cut thru his window, lighting up the room without effort.

She threw the bed sheets off of her and pulled herself to the edge of the mattress, her muscles aching as she did. Judy was busy picking her clothes off the floor when she heard the bedroom door creak open. She turned to see Nick step in with a huge platter in his paws. He wore nothing but a pair of baggy pajama pants, leaving his chest exposed. On the platter stood two big stacks of pancakes and two glasses of orange juice. The sight took Judy by surprise.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked with a smile as he set the platter on the nightstand beside the bed. "You should relax a bit, there's nothing to do."

He quickly slid onto the bed and pulled Judy into his arms.

"Nick, stop." Judy giggled as Nick held her back and threw the covers over them. Judy struggled jokingly against him, but it was no use.

"Don't get up." Nick warned. "Your muscles are sensitive. The doctor told you to not overwork them."

Judy turned and faced Nick with a cheesy smile. "I guess I'm stuck in bed with you then." She whispered.

Nick pulled her in closer, her chest pressed up against his, her nose held up to his. The pain in Judy's muscles suddenly evaporated. She felt Nick's heartbeat speed up as excitement filled his body. She thought his heart might jump right out of him.

"I guess you are." He answered quietly before firmly placing his lips on hers. For a while, only warmth and happiness surrounded them. It was as if the horrors of yesterday had completely faded from their minds. Life almost seemed normal.

Nick's lips began to trail off, moving down Judy's neck. He spun the two of them around so that Judy was on her back with Nick hovering above her. He brought his head down to Judy's chest, pushing her loose t shirt aside with his snout. He used his free paw to get under the shirt, slowly starting to pull it off.

Just as things were about to get interesting, Judy let out a loud groan, followed by the rumble of her stomach. She curled up into a ball, clutching her empty stomach.

"You know I love you, and I love... this," She said with an uneasy voice. "but if I don't eat now, I'm going to die."

"Ok, if you insist. But you're missing out." Nick said with a sigh before placing a last kiss on her forehead and turning to get the platter. "We wouldn't want you to starve, now would we?"

Judy sat up and readjusted her shirt as Nick flipped down four little feet under the platter and placed it on the bed in front of them.

"There." He said triumphantly as he began to pour syrup on his pancake stack. "A meal fit for kings."

They both dug in, enjoying their food. Nick figured Judy must have been pretty hungry since she hadn't eaten in a long time. But she was absolutely inhaling her food and wasn't afraid to show it.

"You might want to slow it down, Carrots." Nick noted. "You don't want to get a cramp."

Judy swallowed the bit of food left in her mouth before answering. "But it's so good, and I haven't eaten in forever. I can't stop. Plus, the doctor said I burnt a lot of calories yesterday, so I need to get that back with food."

"Ok," Nick said with a smirk. "but when you start feeling sick, don't come complaining to me."

Nick and Judy sat in bed together, eating in silence, until Judy's cellphone rang. Judy was busy massacring her pancakes, so Nick took it instead. He grabbed the phone from the nightstand to see chief Bogo's name appear on the screen.

"Who is it?" Judy asked, finally seeming to slow down from her war on her breakfast.

"Bogo." Nick answered. "Should I answer it or let it go to voice mail?"

"You should pass it to me." Judy said, holding her paw out in front of Nick.

"Suit yourself," Nick said as he handed Judy the phone. "I don't really wanna deal with him right now."

Judy tapped the small green icon and held the phone up to her ear. "Officer Hopps speaking."

"Hopps, I am calling to inform you that both you and Officer Wilde have been given a mandatory leave."

"Wait, what? Why? For how long?" Judy asked with concern. "Does this have to do with the attack? Because I feel fine."

"Whoa, no." Nick chimed in. "You do not feel fine."

Judy quickly put her finger in front of Nick's snout to shush him. "Nick doesn't know what he's talking about." Judy told the chief with a dry cough. "I could run a marathon."

"Hopps, calm down." Bogo demanded. "I personally spoke with your doctor and he agreed that you are in no condition to be on the front line for at least a week."

Judy sighed as her ears drooped down in disappointment. "But I can help." Judy persisted. "I can-"

"Officer Hopps! I know you, and if see you come in at all this week, I will have you removed from the force immediately. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes sir." Judy mumbled.

"Good. Now be sure that neither you or officer Wilde bring any attention to yourselves, and keep yourselves hidden."

"What?" Judy asked in confusion. "Why?"

"Well, it's obvious that officer Wilde was the target of the attack and that the animal responsible planned to have killed you. We don't need them coming back to finish the job."

"Ok." She answered, interested to hear what the ZPD dug up from the crime scene. "What else can you tell me?"

"Nothing."

"What? But I'm an Officer."

"You're not getting the case details. I don't need you getting involved with something that will get you killed."

"Fine. I'll stay hidden." She said disappointedly.

"That's the spirit. Now get some rest, you need it. And tell Wilde to refrain from drawing attention to himself. We don't want to relocate the two of you."

"Can do, sir." Judy answered before saying good bye and hanging up.

"What did he say?" Nick asked as he finished up his pancakes. "Do they know what happened?"

"Yeah, but they won't tell us because they think that the more I know about the case, the more I'll want to solve it."

"They're not wrong." Nick admitted. "If they give you a lead, you'll follow it no matter what. Even if you can't run and I, your partner, is the target."

"We'll just need to solve it without them then."

"Carrots, your dedication is adorable," Nick said with a chuckle. "but neither of us are in any condition to go out in public. You're injured and I need to not get shot at again. Plus, we've been trying to bust this case for almost a year, and we've found nothing. Research on predatory instincts has brought us no where."

"And that's where we went wrong." Judy said, realizing their mistake. "We were looking for a biological factor that only predators had. But now we know it's a drug instead of an instinct and it can happen to prey as well."

"Ok, but we're cops. We don't know anything about drugs. We wouldn't even know where to start."

"Well, most drugs come from plants, and plants are a thing I know quite a bit about, being a farmer and all. I might be able to figure something out."

After a long pause of consideration, Nick answered. "Ok, fine. Put your farming skills to good use. But for now you need rest."

"But the city need saving." Judy countered.

"You're right." Nick said sarcastically. "But you can't do any saving if you crawl out there and get shot again. So let's chill out for a few days, wait for it all to blow over, and then we can take a crack at it. Sound good?"

"No," Judy sulked. "but you're not giving me any other option, are you?"

"Nope, so enjoy it." Nick said as he fell back into bed and pulled the covers over him. "Think of it as a vacation."

Nick never would have thought that the carrot farming part of Judy could be the key to solving the biggest case in Zootopia history. But who knew?

"Nick?" Judy asked as she scooted into his arms.

"Yeah?"

"Are you scared of me?" She asked with worry.

"What? No." He answered obviously. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I'm dangerous. Doesn't finding out that I can go psycho and kill someone bother you?"

"Judy," Nick said looking down at her. "if I was scared of you, we wouldn't be cuddling."

"But the stuff is still in my blood. What if I go savage again?"

"Judy, stop worrying." Nick said, trying to knock some sense into her. "I won't let it happen again."

"I don't want to hurt you Nick." She said with a shaky voice. "I'm dangerous. At least you have the collar to stop you, but I can turn when ever."

Nick was going to cut her off and calm her down, but he figured he should probably just let her vent. Judy had been thru a lot, so talking about it might help.

"I can't stop myself if I go savage. Maybe I should leave and take care of myself. I can't stand you being in dan-."

"No." Nick snapped softly, cutting her off. "I've considered that every day since the savage attacks. Leaving the city to keep you safe is something I've thought about more then I should have. I knew the collar would stop me, but the thought of hurting you never left."

It took some time for Nick to build the words to continue.

"Every time we stayed the night together, I was always terrified of waking up to... to you dead because of me. And even though I considered leaving just to protect you, I never did, because I knew that you would want me to be strong and push thru it."

Judy looked up at Nick with tears in her eyes. She had no idea he had felt this way, Nick had never told her any of this. Judy was starting to understand how predators felt, but they felt like this all the time.

"I've felt this pressure, this anxiety every single day for the past ten months," Nick continued "but I put up with it because I knew that that's what you would want. So you're not aloud to drop out on the first day. You can't leave me, because I never left you."

Judy was left speechless. She was always to worried about herself to consider what the predators might be going thru. The worry that she felt, Nick had to live with for months, and he didn't complain about it until now.

"I'm so sorry Nick." Judy said quietly. "I didn't know you felt that way."

"Well, I guess it takes one to know one, right?" He said with a sad chuckle.

Judy didn't respond. She just laid there in Nick's arms, thinking about how dangerous they both were. About how dangerous the whole city was. Eventually, the thought of such a terrible place faded from her mind and she drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Three days had passed and since the attack, and they spent all three of those days inside. Neither Nick nor Judy could risk going out into the city, because they were still in danger of being hunted. Being stuck inside for so long made Nick's home feel like a prison. So to get his taste of the outside world, Nick spent most of his days flicking through cheap TV shows.

It was sometime in the afternoon. Judy was still passed out in Nick's bed while he skipped from one TV show to another. He mindlessly scanned over dozens of channels until a news station caught his eye with scenes of a riot.

It showed animals waving large signs and fighting against each other near city hall. Around the large marble building stood thousands of mammals of all sorts, but they were divided into two different groups. Predators and prey. The city seemed to be minutes away from breaking out into war. Seeing animals turn against each other on such a scale made Nick sick.

The sound of shouting and banging from the crowd began to fade out, to make way for a newscaster's voice. The video continued to play in the back as the newscaster commented over the dark events of the past day.

"Over the past ten months, more than three hundred predators have mysteriously gone savage, creating a lot of discrimination and even specific laws against the group. But the reasoning behind those very laws have recently come under fire because of a prey who has gone savage just a few days ago."

"The ZPD has kept the case information secretive for the first couple of days after the attack in order to keep the victim and her partner anonymous for their own protection, but more information has since been released. From the attack, the ZPD has established that a serum is the cause of these outbreaks, and that this serum is in the paws a very dangerous animal."

"As you can see," The news caster continued, gesturing to the scene behind him. "predators are retaliating against the law by saying that they should no longer be forced to wear Mandatory Behavioral Collars because prey can go savage just like them. While prey are defending themselves by saying that they are simply not the target of the attacks, and are thus not a danger to the city."

Just then, Nick was abruptly interrupted by an exhausted Judy. Once he heard her stumble out of his room, Nick quickly changed channels in an attempt to keep Judy from knowing anything about the horrors they were associated with. He knew that if Judy found out about what was happening, she would never forgive herself.

"Good morning." She said droopily as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"More like good two-in-the-afternoon." He said with a chuckle.

"It's two o'clock?" Judy asked in awe, her jaw dropping to the floor. "How can you let me sleep that long?"

"I couldn't wake you up. You need sleep more than anything."

"Yeah, fine." Judy agreed as she wobbled up to Nick. "By the way, I did some research on the case last night after you went to sleep. And I want to find the criminal."

"I told you not to look into it." Nick said. "I don't want you to get involved."

"I know. But I can't help myself." Judy replied innocently. "I have to do something."

Nick looked at Judy with disappointment, but also a sense of pride. He knew Judy wouldn't give up until they solved the case.

"Fine, I'll ask." Nick gave in with a sigh. "What did your research come up with?"

Judy fell onto the couch next to him with a smile on her face. "Well, since we aren't solving the case with the ZPD, it's illegal for us to check out Tony's house. So I thought about where the criminal was, instead of where we were. I remembered the building he was at and crossed that with all the taxis that were called to that same location on that day. And I got one result."

"Animals use taxis all the time, Judy. It could be anyone."

"That's what I thought," She agreed "but then I found out that the building was abandoned years ago. There isn't any other reason for an animal to go to a busted building."

"It sound like a stretch, but sure, whatever." He said "So what's the plan?"

"Well, I was able to get the taxi's license plate, and from the plate number, I got the name of the driver as well. His name is Bobby Mullcat."

"Let me guess, you want to go question Bobby about whoever was riding in the back of that taxi."

"Yes!" Judy said with a hop. "Can we go?"

"No." Nick answered bluntly. "You're still recovering and Bogo told us not to."

"Come on. I feel fine." Judy whinned. "Plus, Bogo just told me to not come into work, and for us to stay hidden. We can blend in and investigate. Right?"

A smile grew across Nick's face. "Are you suggesting that we exploit the loopholes in our boss's misleading order so that we can do something he doesn't want us to do?" He asked.

"Well... when you put it that way, it sounds evil." Judy slowly admitted. "But it's to help the city."

"Hey, I'm not complaining." Nick said with a laugh. "I like sly bunnies."

"And I like dumb foxes." Judy said with a big grin. "So everything work out fine."

"I guess so." Nick agreed as he got up from the couch and left for his closet. "I'm gonna go grab some cheap clothes so we can 'blend in'."

Nick went to his room, leaving Judy all alone on the couch to think about the case. Were they doing the right thing? Surely, if Bogo didn't want them to solve the case, there must be a good reason. And although Judy didn't like to admit it, she still felt pain from three days ago. It had subsided significantly, but her muscles still burned every once in awhile.

Judy shook away her doubt. They had to do this. She and Nick got so close to solving this same case ten months ago, and they lost it. She wasn't going to let it slip out of her paws again.

"Welcome to Wilde's taylor." Nick said dramatically as he walked up to Judy with a lump of clothes in his arms. "We sell a wide variety of ugly and boring clothes to suit your sketchy needs."

"Ooh, this one particularly disgusting." Judy answered with sarcasm in her voice. She picked up a grey hoodie and inspected it to play along with Nick. "I'll take it."

She quickly threw it on and pulled the bottom of the fox-sized hoodie all the way down to her knees. It was clearly too big for her.

"It fits!" She exclaimed with a sarcastic smile.

"Ok. But you're going to need these." Nick said as he handed Judy a pair of massive, round sunglasses. "You don't want anyone to see those gorgeous eyes of yours, they'll recognize you right away."

"Quit being so flirty." Judy said with a laugh and a nudge as the couple strolled off to Nick's convertible. "Now let's go pay Bobby Mullcat a visit."

Finally getting outside felt good. Fresh air, sunshine, the sound of nature. It almost felt like any other day.

They pulled up to Bobby's house, a large luxurious home on the outskirts of downtown Zootopia. As they walked up to the front entrance and knocked on the door, laughter and cheers could be heard through. The door opened, and out stepped Bobby Wellcat.

"Hi, I'm officer Hopps and this is my partner, officer Wilde." Judy introduced. "We have a few questions to ask you about an animal you serviced a few days ago."

"You two? Officers?" The feline asked reluctantly. "You look like gang members."

"Well, at least we know I'm good at dress up." Nick said with a smile as he picked his badge out of his pocket and flipped it out to show the cat.

"Ok." Bobby said after quickly inspecting the shiny star."So what do you need to know?"

"Well, three days ago, an animal rode your taxi to this location." Judy said as she handed the big cat a piece of paper with an address written on it. "We have reasons to believe this individual was involved with a very serious crime.

It soon became clear that Bobby knew what he had gotten himself into. Worry filled his eyes, his fur stood up on end. He knew who Nick and Judy were looking for, and he didn't want to be a part of it.

"Yeah, I.. I'm sorry." He stuttered nervously. "I can't help you."

He hid back inside and quickly began to close the door in front of them. Thankfully, Nick was faster and managed to stick with foot out and block the door from shutting.

"That's going to be a problem." Nick mentioned. "Because you just helped a psycho, and now, you are a witness. You and your family could be his next target. But if you don't help us, he can walk around and shoot anyone he wants. Including the animals you love."

After a short moment of reconsideration, Bobby edged the door open again.

"Ok, fine. He was a badger, and he had a huge briefcase with him. He didn't talk a lot, but he did say that he was 'taking a shift' and keeping an eye on someone. It looked pretty sketchy."

"Why didn't you come forward and tell the ZPD?"

"Because, like your friend here said, I could be his next target." Bobby reminded then. "I would be putting my family in danger. Plus, it wasn't my place to call him out on it. All I'm supposed to do is drive."

"Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything at all?"

Bobby leaned back and scratched his chin as he tried to remember. "They said something about 'night howlers'..? I think." He answered unsurely. "He talked to someone on his phone about it like it was a drug."

Nick and Judy turned to each other, and silently agreed that they were done gathering information. They found the culprit.

"Thank you for your co-operation Mr. Mullcat." Judy thanked as she pulled out a notepad and her carrot pen. "If anything else come to mind, don't hesitate to call." She said and handed Bobby a paper with her phone number.

"No problem. Well I'm glad I could help, and good luck."

"Stay safe." The couple called back as they headed back towards their vehicle with a new plan in mind.


End file.
